State of Play

Cal McAffrey is a DC reporter looking to get the next big story, which may just come at the expense of his good friend and college roommate Congressman Stephen Collins. Collins, whose assistant seems to have had an accident on the subway. The problem is that it may not have been an accident, but a cover up for one of the biggest military related companies in the country. The problem for Collins continues to mount when he is linked to his assistant in an affair. Cal goes on a manhunt to prove that his friend is being framed, but that may not be the only truth that he will find along the way.

State of play starts off right away with a major beginning, so that people can see the type of film it will be. The movie starts off with a brutal murder, which starts the conspiracy off straight away. The suspense and the story keep building, for the next two hours. The story may get a little confusing in the middle, because of all the leads that Cal gets throughout the film. Cal explains every one though close to the end. It isn’t really all that confusing, it just throws many confusing characters at you, and it expects you to pick them up with little explanation. It all does come to make sense, which is a really good thing.

The entire cast seems to feed off the script which has some of the best dialogue for a journalistic themed film. It uses journalistic language, and that is awesome. If you aren’t aware beforehand how journalism and the following of leads works, then this film will teach you that. It is a fascinating thing to see done, and seems like it would fun to pursue leads. The movie makes it look like a thrill, and that is a good thing. It makes the job look exciting and it shows the highlights of what a journalist can find themselves doing on a day to day basis.

As far as cast goes, it doesn’t seem like their could have been a better cast for a film of this nature then the one that was hired. As far as acting experience goes, these were all veteran actors looking to put their craft to work, and show what real acting is. Lead by Oscar winner Russell Crowe as Cal, a man who is deep into what he does for a living, and won’t stop until he has the real story, and not a bunch of gossip. Cal will look at every lead, and talk to them a bunch of times before he will run a story.

Ben Affleck, whose work never really impressed me to date, seemed to take it up a notch for this film and it ended being a solid performance. Affleck was able to show a vulnerable politician, at the worst time in his life. A man whose wife doesn’t really want anything to do with him anywhere, whose new love interest has been brutally murdered, and whose career seems to be heading down the drain just as quickly as his love life. Ben is able to express the feelings of Collins, without letting it become a cheese filled role. A good performance for a man whose career seemed to be taking a new turn in the form of directing. If Ben is able to tackle more roles like this one then maybe he still does have a chance to be a good strong lead actor.

Rachel McAdams was decent as well. She started off really slow, but her performance seemed to grow as the film went on. She seemed to be hesitant at first, but then the role seemed to grow on her, when she seemed to become comfortable with all the other actors around her. In the end she did end up having a really good turn. She hasn’t really had an overly amazing performance yet in her career, with the exception of The Lucky Ones which came out in 2009. She has always gotten support though from me as she is Canadian, and it is good to wish actors from your home country well. She has tried on occasion to be a good actress, acting in such films like The Notebook and Red Eye. Neither of which were overly impressive, but she had a good turn in both of those films.

State of Play from the trailers looked like an impressive film, and it was. Not for a moment does this film let you down. If you have seen the trailers and have been waiting for a long while for this one then it will be exactly what you think it will be. Keep in mind, that it does follow some of the clichéd aspects that this genre has carried for many years. But this is the best journalistically themed film since All the Presidents Men. A very impressive look at the politics of today, and how quickly a scandal can get out of control and ruin your life.

A well acted film. Great job from the entire cast, specifically Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams who needed to turn in major performance in order to salvage careers that have been filled with blips. Kudos to Crowe for shining once again in a film that he is hired to lead. Crowe always seems to impress, and that is why he is one of the premiere actors in Hollywood. Awesome.

9/10